Fu Shaoping entered Room A-30 again.
He glanced at the words on the Treasure Mirror in his sea of consciousness:
Blood Qi Powder: Proficient (5/100)
Unlike his first attempt, when he had only just grasped the basics, he had now reached proficiency. This time, the refining went exceptionally smoothly, and his speed had more than doubled.
Throughout the Earthfire Chamber,
the flames burned without pause.
At first, Fu Shaoping had worried that nearly a month without refining would leave him rusty and cause his first batch to fail. Instead, not only did it succeed, it came out at Grade B quality.
Confidence instantly filled Fu Shaoping's heart.
The next few batches were all Grade B.
Only with the fifth batch did he produce Grade A for the first time.
Three days slipped quietly by.
Compared with last time,
he had completed seventeen batches of Blood Qi Powder in the same amount of time.
He took stock of his gains.
Of the seventeen batches, seven portions were Grade A, while the rest were Grade B Blood Qi Powder. The words on the Treasure Mirror in his sea of consciousness flickered:
Blood Qi Powder: Proficient (30/100)
Clearly,
this secluded refining session had brought him another large step closer to filling his proficiency to a hundred.
Fu Shaoping wiped the beads of sweat from his face and gathered the Blood Qi Powder into a box. Several consecutive days of refining had drained him mentally, leaving his face somewhat pale.
He pushed the door open and stepped out.
Just as Fu Shaoping was about to leave,
Junior Banner Liu, who was reclining in a wicker chair, called him over:
"Shaoping, could you let me take a look at the Blood Qi Powder you refined?"
Fu Shaoping could not fathom what he meant.
Still,
the man outranked him and had secured him free access to the refining facilities. Naturally, he would not refuse such a simple request.
However,
what he handed over was Grade B Blood Qi Powder.
Junior Banner Liu opened it for a look, and surprise flashed in his eyes:
"This was only your second time refining, yet you already produced Grade B Blood Qi Powder!"
"It was all thanks to your blessings, sir."
Fu Shaoping modestly cupped his hands.
Junior Banner Liu had intended to suggest again that Fu Shaoping join the Alchemy Hall, but Fu Shaoping's vow from last time still rang in his ears, so he dropped the idea and changed the subject:
"Shaoping, once you can refine Grade A Blood Qi Powder, would you be willing to make a few batches for me? Naturally, I'll pay the market price."
Fu Shaoping paused in surprise.
Junior Banner Liu was already an expert at the ninth level of the body tempering realm. Even Grade A Blood Qi Powder would have no effect on him.
Junior Banner Liu said:
"The Blood Qi Powder is for my unworthy son. As you know, the Blood Qi Powder distributed by the Hall of Myriad Treasures is all Grade C. But my son took too much Blood Qi Powder before, and Grade C now has almost no effect on him."
Clearly, he had developed a resistance to it.
Fu Shaoping nodded:
"I would be more than happy to be of service, sir."
"Then it's settled."
After leaving the Earthfire Chamber, Fu Shaoping went straight to the training room.
The Treasure Mirror's next point allocation should go toward his cultivation, and the opportunity to obtain those points would come from executing Yang Shan, the murderer from Yellow Creek Village. He intended to seize this chance and break through to the third level of the body tempering realm in one decisive push.
Therefore,
before that,
he needed to improve his cultivation a little first.
Inside the training room,
he took eight packets of Blood Qi Powder in succession. After refining their effects, his blood and qi were even more abundant. He clenched his hand in the air and distinctly felt that his strength had increased.
He hurriedly looked at the Treasure Mirror in his sea of consciousness.
The mirror's words flashed:
Body tempering realm: Second level (65/100)
Delight spread across Fu Shaoping's face.
He chose not to take any more Blood Qi Powder.
Between what he had refined himself and the reward from this mission, he still had twelve packets left. He planned to save two for Sister Pan'er and take the remaining ten to exchange with the old woman at the Black Market for Blood Qi Powder ingredients.
Ten packets of Blood Qi Powder.
This time, they could be exchanged for twenty sets of ingredients.
Together with the five Low-Grade Essence Stones he had on hand, he should be able to obtain twenty-five sets of ingredients next time.
With this virtuous cycle,
he could take more Blood Qi Powder each time. Once he broke through to the fourth level of the body tempering realm, it would no longer have any effect.
At that point,
he could refine Blood Qi Powder to exchange for origin stones, then purchase an alchemy furnace from the Hall of Myriad Treasures at the Hundred Households Office once he had saved enough.
With an alchemy furnace, he could refine Blood Qi Powder whenever and wherever he wanted.
Besides,
Sister Pan'er could learn alchemy too.
Then the two of them could work together and use the origin stones earned from selling Blood Qi Powder to buy a Pill Recipe suitable for those at the fourth level of the body tempering realm and above.
That was his current goal.
He would improve his strength step by step, preparing himself for promotion to Commandant.
It's time to end my seclusion.
Between refining Blood Qi Powder and spending these past few days training in seclusion, ten days had quietly passed.
Today was the day Yang Shan from Yellow Creek Village would be executed.
After leaving the training hall,
Fu Shaoping went to Old Zhan to report for duty.
Seeing that he had finally appeared, Old Zhan shook his head with a smile:
"I thought you'd forgotten that Yang Shan was being executed today. I was just about to send someone to fetch you, but here you are. Yang Shan has already been transferred to the Meridian Gate, and I've made the arrangements for you. Once you get there and the time comes, you can go up onto the platform and carry out the execution."
"Thank you, sir."
"There's no need for such formality between us from now on. Shaoping, come back to the office after the execution. I've accepted a mission, and I'll explain the details then."
A new mission?
Curiosity stirred in Fu Shaoping's heart.
But if he did not leave now, he would not reach the execution ground in time.
He therefore hurriedly cupped his hands, boarded the carriage Old Zhan had prepared outside, and headed for the Meridian Gate. It stood at the vegetable market in the back alley of West Street. By now, spectators had packed themselves in layer upon layer around the execution platform, craning their necks, pointing at Yang Shan as he knelt there, and chattering among themselves.
Fu Shaoping went around to the back of the execution platform.
Once the handover was complete,
he took up the Martial Suppression Saber and stepped onto the platform.
With the Martial Suppression Saber in his hand, Fu Shaoping felt somewhat nervous. Unlike the previous hanging, this time he would truly draw blood. Upon hearing the order to execute, he tipped his head back and gulped down a bowl of fiery liquor, then sprayed a mist of it over the Martial Suppression Saber with a puff. He raised the saber high above Yang Shan's neck:
Thud!
His hand rose, and the saber fell.
The crowd saw only a flash of white.
A full, intact head rolled onto the ground.
Clean and swift.
Fu Shaoping turned and left with the saber in hand.
Not a drop of blood had splashed onto him:
Beheading someone isn't all that difficult.
Clearly,
it had not been as hard to stomach as he had imagined.
Only after he left did the spectators below the platform erupt into a buzzing chorus:
"Good heavens! That Martial Suppression Guard looked barely sixteen, and he killed a man without even blinking. That... that's incredible!"
"Yes, I heard he's from West Street, too. It hasn't even been a month since he finished his probation and became a full-fledged guard."
"Well, if you ask me, judging by that guard's blade work and strength, dying under his saber was a blessing earned in a past life. At least it was quick and clean. The man probably hadn't even realized what was happening before his head and body parted ways."
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